Edited: (was Oh I'm pissed of now...)

[acroyear]

The original post here was an emotional reaction to a confusing situation, based on incomplete (and certainly incorrect) information and first thoughts. My knowledge of what gorillas normally are like, as reasonably peaceful animals particularly in their native habitats, fell into extreme conflict with the way the situation was described, and so certainly my first reaction was that the "humans" were to blame.

The thread of discussion that follows is pretty educational, both on the situation, and on the different types of counter-arguments to bring rational thought back to correct an emotional impulse.

To whizzrjohn and other police officers, I apologize sincerely for my final comment in the original post. When an officer says in a report or press conference that "there was no other option" (or relatedly, "we did what we were trained to do"), I'll try to be more critical of my own cynicism and skepticism before opening my dumb mouth in being critical of them.

'cause of this example of extreme stupidity and unnecessary violence out of utter ignorance.

Animals just want to be left alone. If its coming your direction, get out of the fucking way. Its that simple. It ain't gonna attack anybody unless you threaten it, or its hungry and you either have, or are, food. If it charged you, its 'cause you intentionally looked threatening to it and you were the stupid one. You don't corner an animal the same way you might corner a person on the run...

I want the SPCA to file a lawsuit against the two cops. Firing 3 shots is signs you panicked, not signs you were being defensive, or asserting that you were "protecting civilians".

Bastards.

Comments

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

after finally finding more extensive reports, there's some interesting things about it:

the most complete stories i've seen so far (that don't involve registrations) don't mention any taunting that led up to the escape.

the guns used to kill the animal were rifles owned and provided by the staff, not their own pistols. One can imply from this that they had the guns trained on the animal as they approached (you don't quick-aim a rifle the way you could a pistol and hope to get anything approaching an accurate shot). this definitely implies that they were in effect threatening the gorilla, so to a certain degree they are partly responsible for the charge. was there an alternative option? possibly, possibly not. i'll accept that in spite of my emotional reaction, i'm certainly not the one to decide. i'll let the investigations continue.

as long as something is learned from this, then i'll rest a little easier on it.

on a side note, gorilla fighting tactics came out in this -- its probably the one case where people can actually learn something. It *BIT* people. It just strikes me as odd that an animal who is primarily a vegetarian resorts to biting flesh over other options in combat.

"If this elaborate display is unsuccessful, and the intruder persists, the male will the rear his head back violently several times. Then he will drop on all fours and charge toward the intruder. In general, when they charge they do not hit the intruder, only running close to them. This demonstration of aggression maintains order among separate troops and reduces the possibility of injury." -- this site

so really what caused this rampage of a nature which so annoyingly supports a stereotype that science has been trying to dispell for over a hundred years?